There's a possibility wasps have built a nest in the outside wall of my house under the siding. I saw a bunch of them in my inclosed porch. I sprayed them with a hose and swatted them away one by one with a broom. I don't want to kill any, but I'm worried if they built a nest into the wall of my house I'll need to get an exterminator or something to destroy the nest. Things could get worse and they could get into the attic. What do you do in these situations? Just let the critters run amok? Most people would say just kill 'me, but obviously I don't want to do that.

Get some good powerful DEET insect repellent, (maybe around 50%) and spray a circle around the nest. Not in the nest, but around it, maybe 50cm away from it. Do this at night, and quickly. Then run away!The next day the wasps will be annoyed by the repellent, and will hopefully leave in the next few days.If they don't leave, spray a little closer after a few days.Repeat until they decide they've had enough and go away.

They'll either leave, or you'll create a race of super deet-resistant killer wasps.

Then, saturated with joy, you will put an end to suffering and stress.SN 9.11

I didn't find a nest...that's why I said "potential wasp nest problem". I saw some wasps near a crack in the siding of my house up near the roof. I think they might have a nest underneath the siding. If so, then it's not visible to me, since it's under the siding of the house. However, if you see a wasp coming out of the cracks of the siding I think it means there might be nest there. Also, I'm just noticing a ton more near the front of my house...so they gotta be coming from somewhere. If I'm right about the nest I'll have to get some exterminator, because I don't feel comfortable getting up high on my house and spraying anything to eliminate them. I'm a big wuss around wasps...I'll probably freak out and fall off the ladder and break my neck.

Up to this point I've been able to deal with them in non-lethal ways. It's more difficult to do this humanely, but I try. I'm just saying, if I discover it's a nest in the siding I think I'm going to have to get them exterminated, but don't like the idea of that since it breaks the precepts. I'm not willing to do anything that will involve me getting stung. I might have an allergic reaction and I if I do I've heard that each time you get stung again the reaction is worse. It just seems bad to have to break the precepts...but I don't know what else to do. I hope it's nothing and these wasps just go away in the coming days. We'll see, but here in Canada Spring/Summer is in full swing and wasps are pretty active.

Virgo wrote:Remove it before the community gets larger, by taking it with your hand and taking it out. You might get stung a few times but it will be worth it to move the nest out.

Have you tried that?

Kevin

Are you serious?

Wasp stings really hurt, and heaven forbid if you are allegic, but then if you are allegeric after a short time after being stung, hurting won't matter anymore, nor will anything else, except your kamma.

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

Digity wrote:if they built a nest into the wall of my house I'll need to get an exterminator or something to destroy the nest. Things could get worse and they could get into the attic. What do you do in these situations? Just let the critters run amok?

Don't take this the wrong way, but I think the number one problem is your own mind. There is no guarantee these wasps will actually become a problem for you. You just see them, get pessimistic and then bother yourself about hypothetical future problems. There are plenty of things that can be done. I think the wisest and most simple is, as you suggest, just to keep watching the wasps, and also your mind. Hopefully, the nest will remain small and you will be able to remove it at fall without any trouble.

In the worst possible case you can always call a professional to come do the job. Then it's not your responsibility how they do it, provided you will have made reasonable effort to find a professional who will hurt the wasps as little as possible.

I'd go for exrermination over the potential risk of anphalaxysis to you or someone else that got too close. I've read that unlike most bees, most wasps will just sting for the heck of it. (bees die after stinging and wasps don't unless vengeance is taken upon them...so the bee needs to conserve their venom where the wasp can be much more liberal)

An epipen might be good to have for yourself, but what about the kid chasing their baseball?

If one wants to practice according to the Buddha's teaching, one should die rather than INTENTIONALLY killing the wasps. If one is compelled to get rid of the wasps and while doing so, one UNINTENTIONALLY kills some of them, that is perfectly alright. In any case, advocating for intentional killing of living beings is an immoral and shameful thing to do.

If one wants to practice according to the Buddha's teaching, one should rather die rather than INTENTIONALLY killing the wasps. If one is compelled to get rid of the wasps and while doing so, one UNINTENTIONALLY kills some of them, that is perfectly alright.

Not talking about monks, but lay people, where doesthe Buddha say that a wasp life has more value than a human life?

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.SN I, 38.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireas na daoine.People live in one another’s shelter.

I recommend that you do a risk analysis of the likelihood of getting stung if you do nothing.I agree with Sekha that what is probably more the problem is indulging in a fear that is disproportionate with the risk of an adverse event.Make a decision based on rationality and objectivity rather than raw emotion. If that means a difficult course of action or inaction, so be it.kind regards,

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

tiltbillings wrote:where does the Buddha say that a wasp life has more value than a human life?

come on. 1. First of all I have myself stepped over wasp nets twice in my childhood and teenage, I got stung by many insects at the same time. Apparently, I didn't die. 2. Even if they were that dangerous, the focus as always is on performing only wholesome deeds, whatever that entails.

Keep in mind:

MN 21"Monks, even if bandits were to carve you up savagely, limb by limb, with a two-handled saw, he among you who let his heart get angered even at that would not be doing my bidding. Even then you should train yourselves: 'Our minds will be unaffected and we will say no evil words. We will remain sympathetic, with a mind of good will, and with no inner hate. We will keep pervading these people with an awareness imbued with good will and, beginning with them, we will keep pervading the all-encompassing world with an awareness imbued with good will — abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will.' That's how you should train yourselves.http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html